NATIONWIDE – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it will no longer furlough 70 percent of its staff on Tuesday but say it will come at a cost—longer wait times for processing cases and a larger citizenship backlog.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service cancels employee furloughs

  • About 13,000 workers were expected to be furloughed

  • Officials say averting furloughs come a a severe operational cost

Unlike most federal agencies, USCIS depends on fees from receipt and applications, which an agency spokesperson said dropped by half in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although even before the pandemic, the agency announced it would face a more than $1.2 billion potential shortfall. The agency states cutting programs helped it to cancel the furloughs for at least the end of the year unless Congress provides the agency with additional funding or provides “a long-term solution.”

In a statement the agency stated: “The additional cost savings come through the descoping of federal contracts that assist USCIS adjudicators in processing and preparing case files as well as a myriad of other support activities. Anticipated operational impacts include increased wait times for pending case inquiries with the USCIS Contact Center, longer case processing times, and increased adjudication time for aliens adjusting status or naturalizing. Naturalization ceremonies will continue. Previously, members of Congress requested that agency leadership avoid operational cuts of this magnitude. “

“I didn’t believe that we were going to be furloughed and then when I read Mr. [Joseph] Ledlow’s message, I was angry,” said Danielle Spooner, American Federation of Government Employees Council 119 President.

AFGE is the union that represents USCIS employees.

“However, averting this furlough comes at a severe operational cost that will increase backlogs and wait times across the board, with no guarantee we can avoid future furloughs. A return to normal operating procedures requires congressional intervention to sustain the agency through fiscal year 2021,” USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow said in a statement.

In July, the citizenship backlog was more than 675,000.

More than 13,000 USCIS were expected to be furloughed by August 30, before Tuesday’s announcement to cancel them.